Typical Day

So, I never realized how much of a commitment writing a blog would be.  I'm trying to do them pretty consistently so Everyone can know how my life is here in Guatemala.

I feel like I'm finally getting into the swing of things here.  My typical day consists of waking up at 6:30 so I can be at the school for 7.  In the mornings all the teachers are divided with particular jobs that change daily.  So I am either greeting kids when they come off the bus, at the door or in the street in front of the school.  I personally use this time to load up on my cup of coffee.

Then it's time for devotions from 7:30-8.  This is probably my favorite time during the day.  Just imagine a room full of 250 kids from prekindergarten to middle school all praising God.  It's fantastic to be apart of it.  We often use that time to pray for needs within the school and for teachers, principles, sponsors and workers involved in the school.

Finally it's breakfast time.  Yay!!! The kids enjoy the delicious cooking skills of hermana Ana (sister Ana).  My favorite breakfast is rice and beans.  Yes, I know what you're thinking, that's so simple!  But you have never tasted Ana's beans before.  They are fantastic!!!!  Also I might just be a huge fan of rice and beans.

Then classes begin.  While I'm not teaching classes myself, I help out in the English classroom, mostly with the younger grades.  I also do one-on-one classes with two students who are advanced in English, Jenny and Ester, and they are also out upstairs neighbors! They are great!  So whenever their grades have English class, I give them lessons.

I finish the school day at 1:30 so I walk home and grab some lunch.  Around 2:30ish, I begin homeschooling with the younger girls, Genesis and Samantha (also our upstairs neighbors).  We learn anything from different cultures to vocab and spelling to poetry.  It is never a dull moment with those two!  They have quite the imagination, to say the least.

So, that is basically where my day ends.  Sometimes we have church meetings that we need to go to or play soccer or hang out with the kids upstairs.

On the weekends, we do many things, depending on the weekend.  Last weekend a group of us went to a really nice restaurant overlooking Antigua.  It was a fantastic view and a relaxing time for us all to hang out. Then we found the helicopter landing area and decided to hang out there for a bit.

Here are a few pictures from that for your enjoyment!!!

Look, Antigua!

Fantastic people I live and work with.

(Kayla, Juice, Karla, Dan, and Jimmy)

Me!

Josh!

Jimmy, Karla, and Juice!

Kids and Birthdays

So, working at the school has been going really good.  It's amazing to spend everyday with such loving kids!  Best job ever?  I think yes!

I thought I would provide you with some awesome pictures from the last few weeks.  The first little bit is from a birthday party for Danny (Pastor Jacobo and Julianna's son and fellow teacher at the school).

 

This is a playhouse for the kids!

 

It's me, so there needs to be a picture featuring the best color ever.

 

This little cutie is Jaden.  He lives above us.

Samathat (far left) and Gensis (far right) are the two girls I'm homeschooling.  They are playing with their cousin here.

It definitely pays to live underneath one of the most incredible bakers.  Julianna made this and it was as good as it looks.

I also got to take some pictures of the first and second grade classes for one of Karla's friends.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Guatemala Lovin'

It's been a few weeks since I landed in Guatemala!  Everyone keeps asking me how I feel, so I'll make it public.  I feel like I'm home!  It's fantastic and everyone here is incredible.

I thought I might share a few stories with you all.  It would be great to give you every detail, but that would take a very long time.

The first story is from last Sunday's walk.  My housemates, Julisa and Kayla, and myself started walking up the path past the school.  One of the workers at the school joined us with the intimidating Lex on a chain leash.  (For those of you who don't know, Lex is the guard dog German Shepherd at the school.  He looks pretty fierce when he's on his chain leash.)  Here are a few pictures from our outing.

 

 

The walk was a great way to relax before the school year started.  We had been walking a long way and came upon a house (pictured above).  We decided that we would turn around once we got to the house and head back.  Once we got to the house a few kids ran out and began hugging Julisa.  They were some kids from the school.  I heard Juice say my name, and so I looked up (I was currently entranced by the goat across the road) and saw my sponsor child running towards me.  We had inadvertently stumbled upon their house!  It was pretty awesome!

This past weekend I was able to go to Quiche, another 'state' in Guatemala.  There is a short-term team that went too.  This is the place that GSO is thinking about starting another school.  God works in incredible ways.  There is a pastor in Quiche that has connections with Pastor Jacobo.  He believes in a holistic teaching of the people in San Andreas, the town.  This includes education of the next generation.  Anyways, through a crazy turn of events, God has brought GSO to the people of Quiche and we were able to pray over the plan for GSO's involvement.

While we were there, we also had the opportunity to go to a remote church about an hour away.  It was literally in the middle of nowhere, but the drive was incredible.  

So, while at the VBS, Jacobo locked his keys in his car.  The wonderful men on the trip spent one hour breaking into his car.  This is the photo of triumph once Jacobo got his keys back.

On our way back to Tizate, we stopped at Lake Atitlan.  It was absolutely incredible. 

Prayer Request:

-For the kids at the school to continue to grow in their relationships with the Lord.

-There are a few of us teachers that are fighting colds.  While it seems like a small thing, it can really drain our energy.

Only One More Weeks

I'm finally home for the holidays and 100% done with my undergrad!  Now I'm getting ready for my next journey.

I'm heading to El Tizate, Guatemala!!!  Here's a few pictures of the places I'll be going.

El Tizate, Guatemala

This is the town where the school is located!

Colegio Cristiano Avivando el Fuego, the beautiful school.

 The wonderful kids I get to see everyday.

While I'm there, my official position is ESL Assistant at the school.  My main job will b e tutoring two young girls, along with a number of other things.  If you want more into, check out my support letter below.


Hey All!
It’s been a crazy journey these past few months and I have some amazing opportunities ahead of me. I’m currently entering into my four months of university. I will be spending this last semester in Ottawa, Ontario as part of the Laurentian Leadership Center and graduating in December with a degree in International Studies with a Concentration in Communications. The million dollar question on everyone’s mind, “What are you going to do after you graduate?” I’m so glad you asked. God has blessed me with an incredible opportunity to go back to Guatemala for an entire year!

I know this is where God is moving me and I will be mov-ing there in January 2014. I will be an ESL (English as a Second Language) Assistant with Global Shore Opportunity. I’ve been with GSO for two summers and I absolutely love the organization and their goals. The main initiative of GSO is to pro-vide Christian education to the children of El Tizate, a small community 20 minutes outside the tourist town of Anti-gua. Many of these children do not come from Christian homes and this school is a needed and practical way to show them the love of God. My main job while there will be to tutor two little girls in English as well as serving as an aide to the two English teachers at the schools. I will also have the opportunity to continue learning more Spanish for myself. God has been giving me a very passionate heart for the country of Guatemala and the children of Colegio Cristiano Avivando el Fuego. I love the children there and feel very blessed to see God grow in their lives. I am so grateful to be a part of a small portion of their lives.

Since God has called me to serve these children in Guatemala, I know He will provide. I need support on two levels. The first support I will need is financial support. I need to raise $7,000 to cover the entire year. This will be used for housing accommodation, food and adding to the support of the school. If you are willing and able to provide financial support then I would greatly appreciate. The second type of sup-port I need is prayer support. I realize that not everyone is able to support me financially but I also need spiritual cover-ing. While financial support is necessary, prayer support is not an option. God is doing big things in my life and in the lives of the students at the school and Satan is not happy. Prayer coverage over this next year and for support to come in is more important to me. As I find myself faithful to God has His plan for me this upcoming year, I know He will pro-vide both the prayer and financial support needed.

If you are willing to support me through prayer, I would love to put you onto a prayer e-mail list. This is where I send updates on more specific prayer needs going on throughout the year. If you are willing to commit to praying for me then please send an e-mail to: shelby.mcconnell@mytwu.ca. I will put you on my prayer list and keep you updated.

If you feel led to give financially then there are a few different options. There is an addressed envelope to send checks. Make checks out to “Global Shore Opportunity” and note that it is for “Shelby McConnell”. Another option is to make an online donation through this website.  Again, put my name in the ‘notes’ area.

Thank you for your prayers and support, especially your prayers.
 

I'm leaving for Guatemala on January 2!  I'm really excited for whatever God has planned for me!

God's Next Endeavor

My next big adventure:  

Ottawa

I'm spending my last semester living in Ottawa with a house full of students.  We will participate in classes in the mornings and intern with various organizations and people in the afternoon.

I'm interning with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

I've been researching the organization and current issues in government for the past few weeks.  Some things have really struck me through it.  There's a lot of religious oppression over the city and government.  Maybe oppression isn't the right word, more like religious suppression.  The concept of remaining 'neutral'.  

During my quit times with God, the city of Ottawa keeps coming to mind.  I keep getting a sense that it needs prayer, the whole city.  That God needs to regain ownership over that place.  It's been out of his hands and that He wants it back.

Tonight was no different.  My entire prayer turned to the city of Ottawa and the Canadian government.  I keep feeling like I need to pray for freedom over that city.  We need to fight for God to capture the city.  Three words came to mind for the city:

RECAPTURE

REGAIN

RESTORE

This is where my prayers keep turning to.

I've never felt like this towards a place.  It's completely new for my prayers to turn so directly towards this city before.  Every time I'm with God this is where my attention is focused.  I will keep praying for Ottawa.  I know God has some amazing plans for the next few months there and I hope I'm able to see his work.

If God brings Ottawa or myself to mind, I ask that you will pray with me.  For the government of Canada, for the kingdom to come over Ottawa, and for those of us that will be there. 

Journey to Become King

First of all, It's been a crazy journey this summer in Costa Rica.  I didn't have much time to write here because I had to do so many other things.  I'm sorry.

Secondly, God has been teaching me a lot and I feel like I need to share this one here.

I was reading in I Samuel (chapters 7-10 to be exact) about how Saul became Israel's first king.  There were several things that struck my heartsrings and gave me a good reminder of the mindset I should be in.

Saul was met by Samuel because he was looking for some of his father's donkeys that ran away.  This was the task that was set before Saul to complete, fins the donkeys and bring them home.  That was it.  Pretty simple right?  But this is where God chose to encounter him and raise him up as king over his people.

I keep thinking of his willingness to chase after a few donkeys.  Think about it.  Why did he go chase after them?  Didn't they have servants to do that?  They were not cattle or sheep but a couple of donkeys.  So why did Saul go after them?  Not only did he go after them but he traveled a long distance looking for them.  Just a few donkeys.  

This was Saul's mindset when he left his home.  Then he meets Samuel who invites him to a dinner and tells him that he's anointed to be the first king of Israel.  If I were him, I'd probably be thinking, "I should go look for donkeys more often."

It was on this journey to find a few donkeys was where God brought him into his 'destiny'.

God does the same for us.  When we have a task that seems menial or unworthy of our time, God completely changes it for his plan.  It could be to bring us to people who need to hear from God, and he chooses to use us. 

I'm reminded of a story.  A while ago, I went on a treasure hunt with two of my friends (If you have no idea what a treasure hunt is, click here: Treasure Hunt).  We weren't having any luck at our first location and decided that we should try a new location.  My friend Christoph really wanted a cup of coffee before we left so we went over tot eh coffee shop.  While he ran in to get some liquid energy, Katie and I stayed in the car.  While we were waiting, a women parked next to us and got out of her vehicle with a stack of books in her hands.  I saw the top book was one I was reading at the time and I ran after her.  I got to talk and pray for her.

At first we were joking around that we were always waiting on Christoph for something.  This time it just happened to be for coffee.  But if Christoph didn't want a cup of coffee then I would never have talked to her.  We would have never encountered her and God couldn't have blessed her. 

It's a lot like Saul's journey to becoming King.  He was just doing something that I personally would be a little annoyed by, but God used that time for him.

The seemingly pointless tasks are still vital parts in the plots for our lives.  God has a plan for the things that I get frustrated by and the things that I don't want to do.  If I'm willing to do them, God can use it.

God can use anything really.

This really impacted me this summer.  I keep asking God why he brought me to Costa Rica when my heart is in Guatemala.  But I have to trust that God has a plan for me and this summer is a big part of that.  Maybe it's through relationships that I have formed here or places I've been.  Maybe I just needed to be on one trip for one person this summer.  And that's enough for me.  If that's the only reason I'm here then I praise God for choosing me as a vessel for him.

Costa Rica Here at Last

FINALLY, I have arrived in the beautiful country of Costa Rica! 

I spent the last 13 hours in transit on the most indirect route possible.  After taking a red eye flight to Charlotte, North Carolina (and getting very little sleep), I had a 4 hour layover in the airport.  I was extremely tired and had to board a 3 1/2 hour flight to San Jose. 

I slept off and on the entire journey but there is no time difference from Colorado so jet lag won't be a problem! 

I'm not sure what to expect on this first trip which starts tomorrow.  There are 5 leaders here to lead a group of 10.  Needless to say, we will definitely get to know everybody!

More to come!